Three straight days of monster tornadoes a rarity

For only the fifth time in recorded history, there were three straight days of tornadoes rated EF-4 or higher this past weekend.

The first of those was in Kansas. The tornado that just missed Rozel in western Pawnee County Saturday night was rated an EF-4 with winds as high as 185 miles an hour. On Sunday, an EF-4 tornado tore through part of Shawnee, Okla., killing two people. And on Monday, of course, a massive EF-5 tornado struck Moore, Okla., killing 24.

Harold Brooks, a research meteorologist with the National Severe Storms Laboratory, said Wednesday he found four other instances where F-4s or F-5s touched down three days in a row:

April 30, May 1-2, 1953
June 7-8-9, 1953
April 17-18-19, 1970
April 19-20-21, 1973